# Ghostery – Privacy Ad Blocker — user reviews > 71 indexed App Store user reviews of Ghostery by Ghostery, Inc., rated 3.64/5 from 78 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ghostery-privacy-ad-blocker/id1436953057/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ghostery-privacy-ad-blocker/id1436953057.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 37 · 4★ 11 · 3★ 8 · 2★ 9 · 1★ 13 ## Newest reviews (16 of 71) ### 4/5 — The best ad stopper, tracker controller available.., *2024-06-14* And it’s free, a labor of love paid for ny 100% voluntary contributions. You won’t notice it running / until a warning pops ups. PROBLEM - It doesn’t work with iOS versions of Firefox and other non-Apple browsers and Safari is a mess that should have been covered by the Microsoft Windows integrated browser decision more than 30 years ago. Maybe if the US keeps its honesty president rather than 45 with his (so-far) 34 felony convictions, it will be. ### 2/5 — will not stop annoying me *2024-03-22* I continue to get a pop up that stops what I'm doing over and over and over again, even though I made my choice to allow for one day on a site. SO ANNOYING! ### 3/5 — Slows down Safari quite a bit *2024-01-26* Just check on Browser benchmark Speedometer and see for yourself. On my machine, it goes from a 400 mark without Ghostery down to 175 with the extension enabled. ### 2/5 — CouldaShouldaWoulda *2024-01-09* The app is not working properly. Who tracks me is not showing trackers but instead it shows the ghost is sleep and has nothing to do instead. Never consent is not working and I have to address all pop-ups. Irritating to say the least. Please fix. ### 4/5 — Ads blocking the screen sides *2023-12-10* Hi developer this is fast app I like that but the rectangular ads on both sides of the screen each covers about 25% of the screen so you only see the middle of the website you are trying to watch ### 3/5 — Needs to be more efficient. *2023-12-03* I've been using Ghostery for a few years now and it's better than most at removing ads. However, it substantially slows down Safari. Both on my M1 Macbook and on my older Intel Macbook, Safari runs 40% slower when Ghostery is enabled. ### 4/5 — Why no one-time donation? *2023-09-30* I can’t afford monthly or yearly but would love to do a one-time. ### 2/5 — Has gotten dramatically worse! *2023-07-21* Really disappointing that one of the best blockers ever for Safari is now performing half as well as it used to prior to a software update. Not cool guys :( **Developer response:** Hi there, we released a new version of Ghostery for Safari, could you try updating it? Reach out to support@ghostery.com with any questions. Thanks! ### 3/5 — Last update not working *2023-07-20* Since updating, anti-Adblock pop up messages have been showing up everywhere. Please fix this. ### 3/5 — Hmmm seems to have quit working *2023-07-18* Lately I see Ads on sites that used to not show them when Ghostery extension was working on Safari. What’s happened??? ### 2/5 — Free or Not? *2023-04-12* It says it’s free but trying to try it to see what it’s about I can’t get past a subscribe now screen. Well I might if I knew what it was about but not as blank do-it option… ### 3/5 — Adds showing up on all sites after recent update *2023-02-17, version 10.0.1* Adds showing up on all sites after recent update ### 3/5 — Needs one little feature... *2023-01-20, version 9.7.1* Great blocker but needs the ability to allowlist websites. Sometimes the blocker doesn't work on certain webpages or you want to support a content creator. Would be an amazing app if that feature was included. ### 3/5 — What gives? *2023-01-12, version 9.7.1* It seems this extension needs updating. It doesn’t seem to work much. And even with the tool bar option check there isn’t an icon! Also can we have be able to manually update the lists like before? ### 4/5 — Effective, Light on Resouces, and Paid Version is Expensive *2023-01-08, version 9.7.1* The paid version is pricey at $47 per year but there are no ads etc. It catches ads and trackers as other apps do but there seems to be no impact on page loading. The price is known as a "cotribution" but billing is through your Apple account. It is mostly a set it and forget program although web sites can be white listed. Bang for the buck though is Wipr at $4.00 I believe and no subscription. ### 3/5 — Annoying web page *2022-09-07, version 2.5.1* I enjoyed Ghostery's fetures until it began popping up its own ad page. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Too in your face *2023-09-30* Keeps installing itself on the Safari bar. Have to remove it over and over and over every few days. That's super annoying, so I'm done. ### 1/5 — DO NOT BOTHER *2023-09-07* i downloaded and installed thid ptoduct. Then i uninstalled it. Every few minutes now a notification pops ups thats say virus detected. When i click on it, guess what page it takes me to. download Ghostery. I will not again. This is on a brand new Macbook Pro M2. ### 1/5 — Oh how I love monthly subscriptions… 🤔🧐🤦‍♂️ *2023-03-31* Not really. Uninstalled. ### 1/5 — Giant pop up *2022-09-26, version 9.6.1* While it was an excellent pop up and ad blocker, it’s now showing a full screen pop up in Safari advertising itself. ### 1/5 — Not the same *2022-09-07, version 2.5.1* I have been using Ghostery for years. I recently upgraded to Monterey and ALL of the granularity is gone. It's impossible to whitelist a site. There are essentially no options. It's not clear what happened. ### 1/5 — Broke Safari on MacBook *2022-08-24, version 2.5.1* Was required to disable the extension to update Ghostery. Enabled it again once it was done updating and Safari refused to work after that. Hasn’t worked since then **Developer response:** Hi, please reach out to support@ghostery.com for assistance. Thank you! ### 1/5 — Doesn't Work *2022-05-02, version 2.4.0* I have this installed and it stopped appearing in the Safari extensions. What happened? ### 1/5 — Pay the fee, will not install *2022-04-14, version 2.4.0* Been using this App for years. The extension was removed for my Mac. Tried to reinstal, must pay, so opted for the 4.99/month to try it. Installer will not let me past the subscription screen. So ap is no longer free with in app purchase. ### 1/5 — What in the world is it doing? *2021-12-24, version 2.1.1* If ghostery is not enabled for a given site, clicking on the icon returns: "This extension would be able to read and alter webpages and see your browsing history on this website. This could include sensitive information, including passwords, phone numbers, and credit cards." Their web site doesn't explain how to "do" anything. It just assumes that the UI is self-explanitory. Perhaps it is, but with the above warning not explained anywhere, it isn't something I'm all that interested in trying out. ### 1/5 — Never Starts *2021-12-20, version 2.1.1* Monterey 12.1. Once open, the app does nothing. The "Open Prefreneces" button does not work which means the app cannot function at all. Very disapointing. The developers have had plenty of time to make this app Monterey ready and still is making excuse about what Apple says it's going to do. An app should either work or be taken down; there should never be any "IIt's not my fault" statements. The developer is responsibile for making his product work with an Apple OS, not the other way around. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Works Great For Me (TMobile, iPhone, Safari) *2024-05-04* I read the articles they send and do all the suggestions. Been using Ghostery on various platforms for years. Suggest turning OFF your location services and use only when necessary then turn off and clear cache/memory. ### 5/5 — Great and Lightwieght *2024-04-19* Available with a click if needed to be disabled, very effective running in the background. ### 5/5 — Glad for Ghostery *2023-11-15* Back to Mac after a decade, I tried the heavily promoted content blockers on Safari, and was disapointed. Running Ghostery is like being with an old friend. The one you can rely on to just be there when you need it, and go away when you would rather face the brave new world on your own terms. ### 5/5 — Works good *2023-07-02* This isn't breaking sites and it clearly shows how many ads (and which ones) it is blocking. I like that I can download it from the MacOS App store where it's easy to get updates from. I'm happy with this. ### 5/5 — The best of the ad blocking lot *2023-05-31* Probably as close as safari users are going to get to the efficiency and comprehensiveness of ublock origin. I can’t say enough positive things about this app, from the level of support, to the added speed of loading web pages. Oh, and it is free, though if you use it and enjoy it, why not pay a nominal fee? ### 5/5 — Lightweight. Works great! *2023-05-29* Simple. Easy to use. ### 5/5 — Excellent!! *2023-05-29* This is my favorite extension for safari. Does an outstanding job knocking out the trackers and the adverts, and it does so in a way that does not bog down page load speeds. Not sure why others are expressing anger about being charged--this software is free, though people who use it frequently should consider donating/paying a nominal amount of money. ### 5/5 — Update is nice! *2023-02-15, version 10.0.0* New update looks clean and fresh. Much welcomed! ### 5/5 — Simple and effective *2022-11-17, version 9.6.3* Unlike lots of other Safari ad blockers, this is the closest we will get to uBlock on Safari. Very simple plug and play operation. No need to pay for "premium" features. It's just adblocking, there shouldn't be a mandatory subscription for basic features ### 5/5 — It works great *2022-08-06, version 2.4.0* I installed the app and inmediately visited one website that it's plagued with pop-up windows, ads and such of all kind and the app effectively stopped EVERYTHING from showing other than the page I actually wanted to see. AAA 100% Recommended. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*